Central Information Commission
Appeal No.CIC/PB/A/2008/01239-SM dated 20.03.2008
Right to Information Act-2005-Under Section (19)
Dated: 06 October 2009
Name of the Appellant : Shri Uttam Kumar Rout
Saradhabali, At Block Colony,
P.O.& Dist. Bhadrak, Orrisa
Name of the Public Authority : CPIO, Neelachal Gramya Bank
Head Office, A-19,
Nilakantha Nagar, Nayapalli,
Bhubaneshwar - 751 012
The Appellant was not present.
On behalf of the Respondent, Shri Pranav Kishore Mohanty, GM &
CPIO, was present.
The case was heard on 8 September 2009.
2. In this case, the Appellant had, in his application dated March 20,
2008, requested the CPIO to inform him about the reasons for one Shri
Prasanna Kumar Padhi resigning from the services of the Bank. The CPIO
replied on April 19, 2008 and stated that the information sought was pretty
old and the relevant records were not available and, therefore, he could not
provide the desired information. Not satisfied with this reply, the Appellant
approached the first Appellate Authority on April 27, 2008. The Appellate
Authority disposed of his appeal in his order dated May 30, 2008 and
endorsed the decision of the CPIO. He also held that the information sought
was purely personal in nature and had no relation to any public interest or
activity and, therefore, was exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1) (j) of
the Right to Information (RTI) Act. It is against this order that the Appellant
has come before the CIC in second appeal.
3. We heard this case through videoconferencing. The Appellant was not
present in spite of notice. The Respondent was present in the Bhubaneshwar
CIC/PB/A/2008/01239-SM
studio of the NIC. We heard his submissions. If the details are available
about the resignation of the said individual officer, we do not see any
reason for denying the information to the Appellant. We, therefore, direct
the CPIO to provide to the Appellant within 10 working days from the
receipt of this order a copy of the resignation letter submitted by the said
officer as also the copy of the order by which his resignation was accepted
by the Bank. If this information is not available on account of the relevant
records having been weeded out or destroyed in accordance with the policy
of the Bank for retention of records, the CPIO shall inform the Appellant
accordingly.
4. With the above direction, the appeal is disposed off.
5. Copies of this order be given free of cost to the parties.
(Satyananda Mishra)
Information Commissioner
Authenticated true copy. Additional copies of orders shall be supplied
against application and payment of the charges prescribed under the Act to the
CPIO of this Commission.
(Vijay Bhalla)
Assistant Registrar
CIC/PB/A/2008/01239-SM